Stolen Moments
by Hopelssrmntc
Summary: It's just a few stolen moments. It's a hug, a kiss, a quick text, or a shared look, but those moments; they are everything. ONE SHOT.


"Babe have you seen my shirt?"

"Try looking by the arm chair!"

Emma frantically searches the master bedroom for the one article of clothing she can't seem to locate. She tries going through the motions of last night, trying to retrace her steps, but she finds herself stuck on the dip at the bottom of the mayor's throat where her collarbone sits and she can taste the hint of apples all over again. She's brought back to reality when the door to the bathroom opens and steam seems to crawl into the room clinging to the walls and the carpet on the floor but through the steam emerges the reason for Emma's lost train of thought. Regina's standing there with only a towel covering the parts of her body that Emma has memorized so well.

"Well, did you find it?" she asks as she runs a hand through her damp hair.

"No I stopped looking for a minute."

"Why?"

"I was just remembering."

"Well, if you don't stop remembering dear, you're going to be late for work and I know you have a stack of paperwork that needs signing because I've been asking for it for a week."

Emma stands up as if it's just struck her where the missing shirt might be but she heads directly for the angel wrapped in a towel instead.

"What're you..."

But before Regina can finish Emma has caught her lips with her own and they become one in the same- two bodies molding perfectly together, two hearts grabbing a hold of each other in case one tries to escape. Regina breaks away first and Emma whimpers at the loss of contact. But when Regina's eyes meet her partner's, everything fades into the honey colored irises that Emma is losing herself in and suddenly the kiss ending is forgotten.

"What was the kiss for?"

Emma looks down slightly embarrassed and starts toeing the carpet. A finger lifts her chin up and she's back to getting lost in those eyes again.

"For not kicking me out last night. I know you don't do sleepovers and I just wanted to say it meant a lot."

She looks down embarrassed all over again for opening up a crack in the wall that surrounds her heart, not wanting to chance seeing a look in the eyes she loves so much that says it meant something different to the other woman standing so close to her.

"Oh, well you know," she starts not wanting to admit just how much it meant to her that Emma had _**asked**_ to stay, and what it felt like to be wrapped up in arms that she knew would protect her no matter what the cost. Admitting that out loud meant that this was real, that this wasn't just some other person keeping her bed temporarily warm for a few hours every other night. "Don't worry about it." And as soon as it's said she's wondering if she said it more for her benefit or Emma's.

As soon as it began, the moment is gone. But it's enough for both of them, for now at least.

She rushes into the diner cursing the time and Ruby flashes a quick smile behind the counter.

"The usual Em?"

"Not today Rubes, just a coffee to go please, I'm late."

Ruby turns around to get the coffee and when she goes to give Emma her cup she notices the blonde lost in thought. She waves her hand in front of Emma's face and says, "Earth to Emma! Your coffee's ready."

"Oh thanks," she says, distracted.

"You ok Em...? Hey isn't that-"

And Emma notices she's looking at her shirt. _Shit_ , she thinks to herself. Before Ruby can saying anything else Emma throws down a couple of bills and turns to walk out.

"It's just something I found at the back of my closet!"

"Sure it is," Ruby teases but Emma is already half way out the door.

Regina strides into her office completely ignoring her secretary, Mallory, who's trying to pass on messages that are of zero importance to her right now. She goes directly to her sidebar and picks up the decanter of cider. She bypasses the ice and pours two fingers worth into a tumbler and throws it back. It's a familiar burn that travels down her throat but it's a welcome one after this morning. She puts two ice cubes and three fingers in the next glass and sits down at her desk. She's still not ready to tackle the work day but the tingle around her eyes makes her believe it won't be so bad anymore.

She flips through her day planner and sees that her day is booked with meetings she doesn't want to attend; local shop owners wanting to expand, the Daily Mirror wants to run an expose on the local swim coach only taking in redheads.

She leans back in her chair and starts massaging her temples, flashes of last night start playing through her mind like old home movies.

 _I want to ask you something, but you have to promise not to freak out or close me out and get all bitchy._

 _Ok...what is it?_

 _Promise me Gina._

 _Fine, I promise._

 _Can I stay here tonight?_

The slight knock on her door stops the memory reel and she's left looking at Mallory peeking her head in the vast office.

"Madame Mayor? Mary-Margaret Blanchard is here to see you."

"She doesn't have an appointment, schedule one for her and send her on her way. I have a very busy day."

"I already told her you are a very busy woman but she said she wasn't leaving until she spoke with you in person."

"Fine. Send her in," she growled through clenched teeth.

The history between the two women was a long and complicated one. They were never on the best of terms and very rarely did Regina find herself able to be civil with the school teacher except when the subject of conversation was Henry. The door to her office opened and Regina found herself facing a mouse of a woman, too timid even to look her in the eye.

"Ms. Blanchard can you please explain to me why it is that my son is in school when you in fact are not?" She looked at the woman standing in front of her, who was nervously twisting a ring around her finger and when she didn't immediately respond, Regina pushed again.

"Ms. Blanchard, I asked you a question."

The younger woman looked up, startled and bobbed her head up and down.

"Madame Mayor," she started, "I uh, I wanted to talk to you about something that I thought needed your attention."

The mayor felt bile rise in her throat and she wrapped one arm around her torso and the other hand made its way to her throat, trying to stop whatever it was that wanted to come back up. She silently cursed herself for having that drink so early this morning but given the events of the morning she didn't see an alternative.

"What is it? It's not Henry right, he's ok isn't he?"

"Wha- Oh no Henry's fine. It's actually about Emma."

Releasing a quick breath, she tested the waters.

"What, what about Emma?"

A buzzing on her desk made her turn around, thankful for the break, even if it only meant a few seconds for her to regain her composure and slip the mayoral mask back in place.

 _Lunch today?_

A slight smile graced her lips as she read the text again.

 _To what do I owe the pleasure Sheriff?_

"...and that's why I'm worried about her."

Having completely forgotten about the annoying woman standing in front of her she looked up surprised to still see her standing in her office.

"Ms. Blanchard, I really am a very busy woman and I don't have time to be wasting on hunches."

"Were you not listening to anything I was saying Madame Mayor?!" At this Regina rises from her seat and quickly comes around in front of the desk in 2 long strides. Standing this close to the younger woman she can see the different shades of green in her eyes and for a moment she sees a spark, something she thought was long forgotten, but as soon as it's there it passes.

"Ms. Blanchard, not only have you wasted my time but it seems you have wasted yours as well, on something that is absolutely none of your concern. Now if you'll excuse me I am a very busy woman and I have work to do, just like I'm sure you have certain children to attend to back at school, like **my son.** You know where the door is."

Before Mary-Margaret can say anything else Regina has already resumed her seat behind her desk and has started shuffling around paperwork. The click of the office door being shut allows the tension in her shoulders to dissipate and the vibration of her phone on her desk quickly grabs her attention again.

 _Just because :]_

The last time Emma was this nervous about something she had just found out she was pregnant and she didn't have the slightest clue what to do about it. She had just gotten arrested, the dad had skipped town, and she couldn't even properly take care of herself let alone another human being. Lucky for her she had plenty of time to think about it. After she had decided she couldn't abort it- her parents had ditched her on the side of the highway, she wanted to at least give this kid a shot at a better life. She knew the only way she could do that was to get it as far away from her as possible. While she was locked up she had the opportunity to talk to someone from an adoption agency and she was very specific about wanting to give her child a better chance in life than she ever had, which is why she wanted to hand pick the family that would raise her child the way she never could.

The text tone on her phone brought her back to reality and out of the black hole that was her past. The past was the past for a reason and she knew all too well that if you wandered too far down memory lane, you had trouble finding your way back out. She reached for her phone and a smile immediately graced her lips.

 _Lunch sounds good Miss Swan. I'm famished._

Releasing a breath she didn't realize she was holding, she allowed herself to be happy. Not knowing what the Mayor would say, she didn't allow herself to get her hopes up- she found out the hard way too many times it allowed for you to be disappointed too often.

Emma immediately sprang up from the chair behind her desk, thankful for the break in the mountain of paperwork Regina had just teased her about not hours before. She gave herself a once-over in the interrogation room mirror, frowning at the way her hair fell flat- unable to do anything about it besides run her hand through it, she headed out the door with a little extra bounce in her step and made her way towards the cruiser to get lunch.

Emma entered the diner for the second time that day to a toothy grin from Ruby behind the counter.

"Hey Emma!"

"Hey Rubes! Can I get my usual and a Greek salad with extra feta please?"

"Greek salad? So it's not Mary-Margaret. Huh."

"What are you talking about Ruby?"

"Your secret lunch date. It's not Mary-Margaret because she hates Greek salads. Who is it Em? I won't say anything, scouts honor," she said holding up three fingers in the typical Girl Scout fashion.

"Don't worry about it Ruby," Emma laughed.

"No come on Emma! You came in this morning in a shirt that was clearly not yours-"

"Hey! I said I found it at the back of my closet! Why is it so hard to believe I'd own something nice?"

"Because you own 2 leather jackets and someone who owns leather definitely doesn't own the dry clean only type of clothing. If I remember correctly, I think I saw Regina wearing that shirt last week." She blinks at the blonde and motions to her mouth like she's locking it with a key.

Emma blushes slightly, unsure of how to answer when Ruby is the mouth of the town. If she says anything that comes close to agreeing with her, the entire town will think she's sleeping with the Mayor. But it's true. So what's the big deal if people think that? The big deal is, she worked hard to build trust between her and the brunette waiting for her and she didn't want to chance shattering that trust before they got anywhere close to where she wanted to be.

"Emma you know you can tell me anything."

"Yeah I know but there's nothing to tell. Is my lunch almost ready?"

A flash of hurt flickers in Ruby's eyes but Emma can't worry about that right now. She's too focused on not hurting herself.

"Oh, yeah, here ya go."

"Thanks," she says coolly as she places money on the counter. She grabs the bag of food and walks out the door, her head hung just a bit lower than when she walked in.

Emma walks into City Hall trying to muster the courage she needs to have this talk with Regina. She's been putting it off for a while but if she's honest with herself it's always been in the back of her mind. She's tired of sneaking around and lying to everybody she cares about. She's tired of rushed kisses and quick goodbyes, she wants more. She wants to sleep in Regina's bed every night and make it their bed. Waking up to Regina every morning Emma thinks to herself could possibly be the best feeling in the world.

She walks straight through to Regina's office, only pausing briefly enough to say hi to Regina's secretary and take a deep breath before entering.

"Madame Mayor," Emma says coolly as she walks in, not wanting the secretary to overhear anything.

Just as the door clicks shut behind her Regina is on her feet and coming around the front of the desk to greet Emma with a lingering kiss. Leaning in further she whispers in Emma's ear, "I've missed you today."

The look of shock on Emma's face as Regina pulls away from the embrace is one she can't hide quickly enough. Emma's eyes wander over Regina's face searching for something, the truth maybe? Some sort of hint that this isn't just a cruel joke being played on her. Regina's eyes sparkle as she looks at Emma and nods her head, reassuring the blonde that the words just spoken were in fact the truth.

"Let's talk before we eat, is that ok Emma?"

Emma is still silent and slightly dumbfounded but she nods her head and sets lunch on Regina's desk. As soon as Emma's hands are free Regina's takes both of them in hers and leads her over to the couch, not sure that Emma would be able to make it on her own.

Regina worries her bottom lip as Emma continues to stare at her; unsure where to begin she takes a deep breath and leans in to kiss Emma once more. "I want to talk about last night," she finally says.

That seems to snap Emma out of the trance she's been in and suddenly she's worried all over again. She knew she shouldn't have asked to stay the night but she so badly just wanted to hold Regina all night that her feelings had overcome her train of thought. "Look Regina I—"

Regina placed a hand over Emma's mouth to silence her, the widening of Emma's eyes above her hand made a smile play beautifully on her lips. "Just listen, please?"

Taking a giant leap of faith Emma nods her head and stays silent.

It comes in starts and stops and Emma can only smile to herself because she has never seen Regina this flustered about anything but it's absolutely adorable the way her hands don't stop moving and she can't seem to lock eyes with Emma. Finally after what seems like hours of babbling, Regina finally says what she's been trying to say all along. "Emma Swan, I'm tired of all these stolen moments we have. I'm ready for more. I **want** more with you. Will you move in with Henry and me?"

Emma's brain short circuits, her mouth is opening and closing but no noise is coming out. A smile tugs at the corner of Regina's mouth and suddenly Emma is kissing that very same mouth and they're both smiling through the barrage of kisses that Emma is planting everywhere she can. A throaty laugh reaches her ears and she looks up to see the most beautiful smile on Regina's lips that she's ever seen. "Is that a yes?"

Emma nods and **finally** her brain transfers a thought to her mouth and she says, "Yes."

Lying in bed that night Emma can't help but smile at herself and the woman in her arms. She is surer now than she ever has been that she deserves happiness just as much as the next person does. Her worries and fears about Regina rejecting her completely evaporated this afternoon. No more stolen moments, she thinks to herself. No more rushed kisses before anyone sees. No more sneaking around. A sigh escapes her lips before she closes her eyes for the night and a smile spreads across her face. This, Emma thinks, is all she ever needs.


End file.
